Indianapolis policeman killed responding to domestic disturbance

INDIANAPOLIS (Reuters) - A 41-year-old Indianapolis police officer was shot and killed Friday as he tried to help a woman and her infant who were being held hostage, police said.

Officer Rod Bradway was gunned down when he entered the apartment of the woman screaming for help at about 1:52 a.m., the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement.

A second officer, arriving on the scene in a separate car, shot and killed the man believed to be holding the woman and her child, police said. The 24-year-old gunman, Steven Byrdo, waited behind the apartment door and shot Bradway as he entered, officers said.

Bradway died after being transported to Wishard Memorial Hospital, the department said.

"We are very proud of Officer Bradway. He did the job that he was trained to do," said Rick Hite, police chief of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. "We believe that he saved lives by his actions this morning."

Before he fell to the ground, Bradway returned Byrdo's fire, striking him, police said. The second officer on the scene shot and killed Byrdo, the department said.

Byrdo held the woman and her infant hostage in the hours before this incident and fired his gun at her before police arrived, the department said.

Police said the woman was not injured. The relationship between Byrdo and the woman was not immediately clear, they said.

Bradway, who is survived by his wife and two teenage children, has been on the force for five years and recently received a medal for his bravery, police said.